Educational toy device



1955 M. J. RUDEREAN 3,199,231

EDUCATIONAL TOY DEVICE Original Filed Oct. 3, 1962 INVENTOR MAX J.RU'DERIAN A TTURNE Ys FIC7.2. M paw- United States Patent 3,199,231EDUCATIQQNAL TQY DEVECE Twin J. Ruderian, 631 Wilshire Blvd, SantaMonica, Calii. Continuation of application Ser. No. 228,133, Oct. 3,1962. This application Apr. 19, E65, Ser. No. 450,258

1 Claim. (Cl. 35-74) This invention is a continuation of my copendingpatent application Serial No. 228,133, filed October 3, 1962, andentitled Educational Toy Device.

This invention generally relates to an educational toy device. Althoughthe toy device of the present invention is primarly designed foreducational purposes, it will be appreciated as the specificationproceeds that it also may be employed in conjunction with games ofchance or the like.

More specifically, the educational toy device of the present inventionfalls into that category of structures in which one portion is movedwith respect to another portion and various indicating means areemployed in conjunction with markings to discretely or by randomidentify a given term, word, number, name, or the like which is to bematched with or related to another term or marking. Thus, theeducational toy device of the present invention is designed to stimulatea students or child's thinking and desire to acquire knowledge bymatching words, names, or the like through a movable structure ratherthan through merely visible means as is oftentimes the conventionalpractice. Of course, as heretofore mentioned, although the device of thepresent invention is primarily directed towards educational purposes, itmay be employed for games of chance and luck.

One object of the present invention is to provide an educational toydevice which may be extremely economically constructed from heavy paper,cardboard, or other inexpensive thin sheets of material, for example,plastic, metal foil, or the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an educational toydevice which, except for the minute thickness of the material as such,may be manufactured in two-dimensional form and assembled by the userinto the three-dimensional operational device.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide aneducational toy device which may, for example, be embodied on acardboard box of the type that is employed for holding dry cereals,flour, pancake mixes, cake mixes, and the like. More specifically, inthis regard, it is an object of the present invention to provide adevice which may be printed upon cardboard sheets to be snapped out ofplace or cut out of place and simply assembled into the operational unitwithout any appreciable skill being required of the user.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide aneducational toy device conforming with the foregoing objects, and yetwhich is susceptible of repeated usage Without deterioration, and alsowhich may be simply assembled and disassembled and which consists ofonly a minimum number of parts.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention aregenerally achieved by providing a pair of congruent discs, which discsare flexibly joined together at an edge portion so as to be foldable forsuper-imposition one with respect to the other. The discs may be formedof cardboard, thin plastic, aluminum foil, or other materials. In onepreferred form, the discs are formed in conjunction with cereal boxsidewalls, for example, such that they may be easily pressed out alongperforations or cut along designated lines.

The discs preferably comprise the movable or rotatable portion of thedevice and marking means are associated with the discs, preferably inthe form of sector designating lines, although it is conceivable thatother types of markings may be used.

Frame means are designed to journal the discs in superimposed position.Associated with the frame means is some type of stationary indicatingmeans designed to cooperate with the markings on the discs to establishthe particular disposition of the discs relative to the indicatingmeans.

It will be appreciated that as a consequence of the foregoing structure,various educational games as well as games of chance may be playedaccording to the particular printing employed on the discs and theparticular relationship of the indicating means associated with theframe means to the markings used on the discs.

In a preferred form, it is also desirable to employ markings inconjunction with the frame means and also cutouts associated with theframe means whereby the educa tional toy device of the present inventionmay be employed in several different ways as will hereafter becomeclearer as the specification proceeds.

A better understanding of the educational toy device of the presentinvention may be had by reference to the drawings, showing merelyillustrative embodiments, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view of the toy device of the present invention prior tobeing cut out and assembled, the device being shown embodied in thesidewalls of a cereal box or the like;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the device immediatelyprior to final assembly;

FZGURE 3 is a top elevational view of the device in its assembled form;and

FIGURE 4 is a view of a modified form of the educational toy device ofthe present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG- URE l a cereal boxor the like in which is merely disclosed for illustrative purposes ofsuggesting the manner in which the structures of the educational toydevice may be formed. Thus, on one sidewall of the cereal box, there areshown a pair of discs Ill and 12 joined together at a common edgeportion 13. Preferably, the disc 11 is divided by printing into aplurality of sector portions 14, and similarly the disc 12 is providedwith printing or the like to form a plurality of sector portions 15. Itis also desirable, but not essential, in this particularly structure,

that a tab 16 be formed in association with the disc 11 and a slot 17 inassociation with the disc 12. The tab 16 serves as a means of lockingthe disc 11 to the disc 12 in super-imposed position when the discs arefolded together as will be hereafter described.

in the adjacent side of the box til, there is shown a retainer structureor frame means 18 which embodies a disc-like portion 19 and a disc-likeportion 20. The disc portions 1? and 2t have integrally formed therewithstrip or frame portions 21, 22, and 23. The frame portion 22 is providedwith a locking tab 24, and the frame portion 23 is provided with acooperating slot 25 for the locking tab 24-. it is also preferred toprovide a perforated sector or triangularly shaped cutout or the like 26in the disc portion 19 and a similar cutout 27 in the disc portion 29.

As an important feature of the present invention, tab structures 28 and29 are provided, respectively, in the disc portions 19 and 2th. The ta-bstructures are preferably partially perforated into the disc portions 19and 20 such that three sides of each of the tabs 28 and 29 may be freedwhile one side retains the tab connected to a given disc portion 19 orZtl as the case may be. The function of these tabs 28 and 29 will becomeclearer as the specification proceeds.

Thus, referring to the view of FIGURE '2, the frame or retaining means18 is shown folded over along a fold line and locked by having the tab24 extend around the bottom edge of the frame 23 back into the slot 25in the manner indicated. Normally, this locking operation would not becompleted until the super-imposed discs 11 and 12 wererassembled withinthe frame member 18.

As will be seen from the view of FIGURE 2, the tab 29 has been forcedout of position to leave a cutout 29a. The tab is designed to bereceived through a central opening 31 formed in the disc 12 such thatthe marginal portion of the disc adjacent the opening 31 will fitagainst the tab 29 and below the tab opening 2%.

. A- similar opening 32 in the center'of the disc 11 is provided whichis designed to. receive the tab 28, the latter being preferably 180degrees out of alignment with the tab 29. Thus, the tab 28 would bereceived through the opening 32 for disposal between the discs 11 and 12with respect to the frame or retaining means 18, but would also serve toguide relative rotative movement of may be used with respect to thediscs 11 and 12; however, in place ofthe frame structure 18, a cutout ofthe form 34 may be used. The cutout 34 functions for the same purposebut does not yield as many variations in the use of the device. Thus,the cutout 34 may comprise strip structures and 36 integrally formed andextending from a fold line 37. The strip structures 35 and 36 terminate,respectively, in arrow portions 38 and 39.

In use, the portions 35 and 36 are folded about the foldline'3'7 intothe position as indicated in FIGURE 4. The arrow portions 38 and 39 arethenalso folded ninety degrees back and the disc structure assembled asshown in the manner of FIGURE 3, may then be spun about the strips 35and 36 now functioning as a shaft and retaining means for the coupleddiscs 11 and 12. Towards this end, the strip structures 35 and 36 wouldbe passed through the central opening 31 and the users fingers would beused to grasp the same while the other hand could be employed to spinthe super-imposed discs 11 the discs in a given path relative to theaxis of the device as determined by the center openings 31 and 32.

In the form shown in FIGURE 2, the device is ready for final assembly;the disc 11 has been folded at the edge portion 14 over the disc 12, andthe tab 16 is shown in position ready to be turned over the adjacentedge of the disc 12 into and through the slot 17 disposed thereon. Thetab 16 in its final position would have its free end disposed betweenthe discs 11 and 12 in the same manner that tabs 28 and 29 would behidden from'view. Thereafter, the discs 11 and 12 would be inserted intothe retainer 18 by positioning the tabs 28 and 29 relative to theopenings 31 and 32 in the manner as previously described. The tab 24would then be locked into the slot 25 in the manner as shown in FIGURE.2 and the device would be 7 ready for operation.

In its final assembled form, as shown in'FIGURE 3, it is simple for theuserto retainany portion of the frame structure 18 between the fingersof one hand and spin or move the disc members 11 and 12 which are nowlocked for coupled rotation about the axis of the device.

. It willbe appreciated that a variety of educational games of chancemay be played with this device. For example, the cutout 26 may indicatea particularradially inner sector marking 15a having printingdesignating the primary product of a given state. The radially outersector portions 15b could indicate the names of states, and the sectorportions 33 On the disc portion 20 could indicate the capitals of thestates. It would then be the users objective to find the particularrelated state and align the capital therewith by moving the disc portion2% relative to sector markings 15b.

It will also be appreciated that cooperating nomenclature can be imposedon the reverse side of the device or on the disc 11 which mightindicate, for example, they flower of the particular state or the likeor serve as a' check for the answer.

, In addition, it will be noted that the tab opening 29a may index to aparticular portion of the inner markings or sector areas 15a. Thisindication might also give a particular number which would indicate thepopulation rankingof the state or the area ranking of the state. Thus,it will be evident that the device may employ an appreciable number ofvariable to make the toy stimulating and challenging to the userthereof.

Although it is a preferred concept of the toy that the discs 11 and 12be rotated with respect to the frame structure or retaining means 18, itis apparent that the frame means 18 may be, discretely moved withrespect to the discs 11 and 12 and achieve the same result.

' In an alternate form of the invention, instead of providing thestructures as shown, a similar construction and 12. The arrows 38 and 3%would then align with given sector portions 15 whereby the user wouldhave to,

for example, name the capital of one state or the state associated withthe capital of another.

Of course, the educational toy device may be used in a variety of ways,for example, to name poets associated with given poems, to nameinventions associated with given inventors, and the like.

In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated by those skilled in theart that many changes and modifications may be made to the educationaltoy device of the present invention without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as set forth in the following claim.

What is claimed is: An educationaltoy device comprising, in combination:

i first and second congruent fiat discs having first and second centralopenings and being flexibly joined together at an edge portion,said'discs being folded together about said edge portion with saidcentral openings in registration; markings on the exterior exposedsurfaces of each of said discs; frame means comprising an elongatedstrip of the same material as said discs folded back on itself, saiddiscs being received between the folded portions of said strip so thatsaid folded portions extend diametrically across the exposed surfaces ofsaid discs; means for securing the ends of said elongated strip togetherto thereby cradle said discs within said strip; and at least two lockingtabs, one of said tabs being on the inner surface portion of saidelongated strip extending across the exposed surface of said first-discadjacent to said first central opening in aid first disc, and the otherbeing disposed on the inner surface portion of said elongated stripexetnding across the exposed surface of said second disc adjacent tosaid second central opening in said second disc, said tabs extendingbetween the peripheral edges of said central openings of said discs tolie between said discs and thereby journal said discs for rotationwithin said elongated strip member, said elongated strip definingindicating means whereby one of said markings will be juxtaposed saidindicating means on said elongated strip when said discs ENGENE cArozro,Primary Examiner.

